I have been meaning to teach her some basic commands for awhile now but with 3 skin kiddos running me ragged, well you know. So tonight I was determined to try some. I started out with bits of kibble for reward. We did down. That took some work! I had just seen that british trainer on Animal Planet last night have the dog go under her leg to get the dog to go down the first couple times. That FINALLY gave her the idea of what I wanted. Phew! Okay, then I was able to just motion with my hand and say DOWN and she went down for the treat.  We also did up to get her back to a sit before going back down. She must have thought Mommy had gone crazy! Up, down, up, down, up, down. Then we tried shake. She really doesn't like me touching her paws so she may not get this one but I'll keeo trying. Oh yeah, and by this point I had moved onto cheese. OOoooooo......CHEESE! Big motivator! The command she followed the best, and THIS SHOCKED me, was leave it. She really left it. She walked away! Couldn't believe it. She would walk about 2 or 3 feet away and look away from the cheese until I said go ahead. We just kept going on these commands until that 1 slice of cheese was gone. So is it okay to do so many commands in one session? How long do I use cheese before I expect her to do the commands w/o a reward?

Thanks Cat. I also forgot to mention that "up" was a difficult command on account of her being lazy. She wanted to stay "down". She really seems as though she could not care less about anything but the cheese. Should I do this every night?

OOOOHHHHHHH.....okay. Never thought of that. Yeah we say "up" all the time! Der. Blonde moment. She does know sit. She learned that way, way back. She sits before I even command it. So from "down" say "sit" to get her back up? That makes sense. I figured we would just keep the training sessions as long as 1 cheese slice. I did give her really excited "good girls" but she was just like " Lady....CHEESE!" We'll see how it goes.

I am using hand signals but I am not sure if they are right.

Thanks Cat. Hey, this is a nice conversation you and I have going.

Thought you were a bi**h. Hehehehe JK. I kind of just meant that it was just you and me. Noone else replied.

Awesome progress tonight! I am so excited! Since the night I first started this thread I have not had time for a session with Yaz. I MADE time tonight. She did SO well. She already knows "sit" really well. She got sown after the first few times. I even forgot hand signals. I was so shocked. She even puts her chin "down". SO CUTE!!!! then I said "sit" again for her to get back up. She DID!!!!  We did this over and over through one slice of cheese. I figured we were done for the night but she kept following me around the house.Okay, 1 more slice. This time after "sit", I didn't even say "down", she just went down. No cheese for that. I made her "sit" again then tried "shake". This has proven THE most difficult. I didn't think she would get it. She kept looking in my hand for the cheese. FINALLY, I only had one corner of cheese left and SHE GOT IT! I'd say"shake" and she'd lift her paw for me! EEEEEE!!!!!! Okay so I know this is no big deal for some, but for us it's MAJOR. The kids are thrilled with her new "tricks" too. Next I want to try "rollover" but I don't know how. Any advice?

Thanks Cat! You have been SO helpful. I will try to remember hand signals. That would be cool to do it from across the room without saying a word. I thought for sure that this morning I would be starting from scratch. That she would have forgotten everything. Nope. We started again this morning right after Mommy's coffee. First I tried w/o cheese. Uh uh no way Mommy. I don't work for free. So I just got a couple pieces of kibble and tried again. YAY!!!!! She did it all. Then I tried again w/o kibble and she did it! So I went and got her 1 piece of kibble. When Daddy tries to get her to do it for him she looks to me. Gotta work on that. Rollover sounds tricky. Wanna come up here to help? Once we get rollover I want to work on recall. THAT should be interesting!

Another thing that seems to be working! Anytime any of us leave the house Yaz FREAKS! Drives us all batty. I have tried for 2 yrs now to desensitize her to signals that we are leaving to no avail. Twice this morning Larry left w/o a peep from Yaz. As long as I know he will be getting ready to head out, I grab some kibble and tell her "watch me" which she does, reward. Then tell her "quiet", which she does, reward. That's IT! Just those two commands, once a piece. I am SHOCKED! Part of his leaving is obviously kissing me. Which is another thing that causes FREAKING. I had already said "watch me" and "quiet" and she stayed in those modes. Wow! Now how do I get her to not freak when it's ME leaving and noone is inside giving her commands? Do it as I back out the door?

Daddy DOES hold the kibble when he takes a turn. I hand it to him. He uses the same words/signals but she looks at me as if to say, "Okay Mom?" He positioned himself between her and I this morning and that seemed a bit better. Crating Yaz did NOT work out. We tried ot for a good 5 months when we first got her. She peed and pooped in it and it was such a God awful mess. I threw the dang thing out. When she sees that we are getting ready to leave she starts jumping up on the door and us while barking up a storm. We have to shoo her with our feet or my purse while quickly going through the door. I have video taped her before and she barks and whines for about 5 min. then goes to sleep in the recliner. So once we are gone, she's fine. It's just getting out the door. I think I'll try rollover this afternoon. Wish us luck.

Success! Yaz will now do sit, down, and shake on demand w/o treat. Show me your belly is coming along. She will ONLY do that one for reward. Shake is her FAVORITE! She is constantly offering her paw. Whether we ask or not. Getting through the door is still a nightmare. Also, what seems to work for barking at dogs walking by the house is "sit" rather than "quiet". Hey, whatever works right?